Spout closure cap and actuating sleeve therefor



Dec. 12, 1967 D. H. TROTT ETAL 3,357, 0

SPOUT CLOSURE CAP AND ACTUATING SLEEVE THEREFOR Filed Sept. 26, 1966 INVENTORS.

3,357,607 Patented Dec. 12, 1967 ice 3,357,607 SPOUT CLOSURE CAP ANDACTUATING SLEEVE THEREFOR David H. Trott, 3351 Stettinius, Cincinnati,Ohio 45208, and Gary W. Robinson, Cincinnati, Ohio;

said Robinson assignor to said Trott Filed Sept. 26, 1966, Ser. No.581,890 8 Claims. (Cl. 222-507) This invention relates to a dispenserclosure combination for containers of fluid material.

This invention is an improvement in the invention which is the subjectof copending application Serial. No. 45 8,698 filed May 25, 1965, nowPatent No. 3,275,202. The closure of that application is adapted to bemounted on a container such as a squeeze tube, plastic bottle, or thelike from which the fluid contents are discharged from time to time. Theclosure includes a spout which is fixed to the discharge end of thecontainer, a sleeve surrounding the spout and a cap which is adapted toopen and close the spout. The sleeve has an opening through which thespout can project and the sleeve is rotatable and axially movable withrespect to the spout so asto cause the spout to project through thesleeve opening when the sleeve is rotated. The cap is interconnectedbetween the sleeve and the spout so that it moves over the spout whenthe sleeve is rotated to bring the spout within the confines of thesleeve and the cap is moved away from the spout to project the spoutthrough the sleeve opening. Further, the interrelationship of the partsis such that when the spout is to be closed, the cap is forced by thespout into snug engagement with the opening in the sleeve, therebycausing the cap to fit snugly over the discharge end of the spout.

The device as disclosed in the copending application involves thecooperation of a number of curved surfaces such as cam slots, gearteeth, and the like to effect the proper movements and dwells of the caprelative to the spout during the rotation of the sleeve. For effectiveoperation, the tolerances on these surfaces are close and, because themost economical material for the device is a plastic, the surface wearand somewhat shorten the life of'the device.

The present invention is an improvement in the device of the copendingapplication, particularly in relation to the interconnection of the capwith respect to the sleeve and spout to minimize the dimensionalcriticality of the cooperating surfaces. More specifically, the presentinvention includes a cap and a mounting structure constituted simply bya shaft and a gear in mesh with gear teeth on the spout, the mountingstructure having only simple, rotary motion. The mounting structure isconnected to the cap by a flexible resilient strap which twists topermit the cap to move between its closed and open positions uponrotation of the mounting gear and shaft. The resilience of the strapcombined with the configuration of the surface of the sleeve againstwhich the cap slides determines the path which the cap takes as themounting structure is moved.

Not only does the improvement provide a surety of the long life of thedevice by eliminating the need for close tolerances and the like butadditionally the assembly of the device is facilitated. In assembling,the simplicity of the structure permits the cap mounting shaft merely tobe snapped into a bracket molded in the sleeve and thereafter the sleeveis slid over the spout structure until the gear teeth of the spout meshwith the gear on the cap mount.

These features of the invention will become more readily understood fromthe following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention with portions broken awayfor clarity,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the device in four operativepositions as determined by the rotation of the sleeve with respect tothe spout, and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2illustrating the cap mount.

The closure device indicated at 10 has three elements each of which maybe molded from a suitable plastic. These elements are the base 11 whichincludes a spout 12, a sleeve 13, and a cap 14. The base and spout havea longi tudinal bore 15 extending therethrough, the base preferablythreaded as at 16 to receive the threaded cap end of a container 17. Thelower end of the base may have a surface 18 which is configurated tomate with a container surface for which the closure is specificallydesigned.

The base has a cam slot 20 which receives a pin 21 fixed to acylindrical wall 22 of the sleeve 13. The base preferably has a smallaxially extending groove 24 providing a communication between its uppersurface 25 and the slot 20 through which the pin 21 may pass during theassembly of the sleeve 13 to the base 11. The cam slot as bestillustrated in FIG. 2 has a spout projection section 30, a cap movementsection 31, and a cap clamping section 32 as will be described in moredetail below.

The sleeve has the cylindrical wall 22 terminating at its upper end in afrustoconical Wall 34, the inner edge of the wall 34 forming an opening35 through which the spout can project. The spout has a substantiallysmaller outside diameter than the opening 35 so that it may easily passtherethrough.

The sleeve 13 carries the cap 14, the cap 14 having a diametersubstantially greater than that of the opening 35 and is adapted to beclamped against the internal surface 36 of the frusto conical wall 34 bythe spout 12. The cap 14 is mounted by a strap 37 to the flanged upperend 38 of a shaft 39, the lower end of which is integral with a gear 40having teeth 41. The shaft 39 is snapped into position between the legs42 of a bifurcated bracket 43 which is fixed to the cylindrical wall 22of the sleeve 13. The strap is a flexible resilient plastic such aspolypropylene and is tough enough to withstand a million cycles offlexure. This strap 37 is preferably eccentrically mounted with respectto the shaft 39 to provide additional leverage in the shifting of thestrap between its two positions.

The cap is confined within the sleeve by the frustoconical wall 34 andis cammed or guided in its movements between a closed position overlyingthe spout and an open position to one side of the spout by the surface36 of the frustoconical wall 34. v

The gear teeth 41 mesh with longitudinal gear teeth 44 formed in theoutside surface of the spout 12. Three of the teeth 44 are extendedhelically downwardly to provide extensions or splines 46 in which thegear 40 rides during relative axial and rotary movement between thesleeve and the spout to project the spout through the opening 35. Thehelical extensions prevent rotation of the gear 40 during this portionof the operation.

The upper end of the spout 12 has a beveled surface 48 and the lowersurface of the cap 14 is recessed as at 49, the marginal portion of therecess being beveled as at 50 to mate with the beveled surface 48 of thespout. The cooperating beveled surfaces permit the cap to accommodateitself to the spout when the spout moves into engagement with it duringthe final movement of the sleeve.

The operation can best be understood by reference to FIG. 2. In FIG. 2,the device is shown in stages A-D of its full extending movement and thecorresponding positions of the pin 21 in the cam slot 20 areillustrated.

In the fully closed position, at stage A, the pin is at the lowestextremity of the cap closing section 32 of the cam track 20. In movinginto that position, a pin has caused the sleeve to draw tightly againstthe cap 14, clamping it against the end of the spout 12 to seal thespout. As the sleeve is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, thesleeve rises with respect to the spout, thereby releasing the clampingengagement by the sleeve of the cap to the spouLThere is in thismovement a few degrees rotation of the gear 41 which twists the strap 37slightly. However, the resilience and flexibility of the strap permitthis twisting without damage to the strap and as the sleeve moves to itsuppermost position, at stage B, the cap is free to shift away from thespout.

Between the two extreme positions of the movement of pin 21 in the slotsection 31, there is no relative axial movement between the sleeve 13and the spout 12. However, the gear 41 rotates through an angle of about90, thereby twisting the strap 37 and forcing the cap 14 at the otherend of the strap to slide along the frustoconical surface 36 to aposition at one side of the spout 12. This position is illustrated atstage C where it can be observed that the strap 37 has undergoneconsiderable fiexure and the cap is moved out of the way of the opening35 at the top of the sleeve. As rotation of the sleeve is continued, thesleeve is cammed downwardly with respect to the spout to start themovement of the spout through the opening 35 toward its dispensingposition. During the first portion of the movement into slot section 30,the gear 41 will rotate a few degrees to bring it into alignment withthe teeth extensions 46 in the surface of the spout. As downward androtary movement of the sleeve continue, the gear teeth ride in theextensions 46 and have no further rotary movement with respect to thesleeve. Thus, the cap is held stationary in approximately the positionof stage C. At the end of the rotary movement, the spout is in its fullyextended position ready for discharge of the contents from thecontainer.

In operating the closure to close the container, the sequence of stepsis reversed and need not be described in detail. However, it should benoted that as the pin 21 moves in the slot section 32 toward the end ofthe closing movement, there is relative movement of the spout toward theopening 36 and there is also lateral movement of the cap with respect tothe opening. The cooperative beveled surfaces 48 and 50 permit theproper fitting of the spout in the cap recess 50 notwithstanding theslight lateral movement of the cap with respect to the spout. In otherwords, the beveling eliminates any requirement of precision in timingthe introduction of the spout into the recess as the cap moveslaterally.

We claim:

1. A closure comprising,

a hollow cylindrical base including an elongated spout,

a sleeve mounted on said base for axial and rotary movement with respectto said base, said sleeve having an opening through which said spout canproject,

a gear rotatably mounted on said sleeve and meshing with gear teeth onsaid base whereby rotation of said sleeve with respect to said basecauses rotation of said gear, and

a cap connected by a flexible resilient strap to said gear, said capbeing movable between two positions upon rotation of said gear, onelying between said spout and opening and the other to one side of saidspout.

2. A closure according to claim 1 further comprising,

a cam track and pin means interconnecting said sleeve and base andcausing said spout to move through said opening in said sleeve when saidcap is moved to one side of said spout.

3. A closure according to claim 2 in which the gear teeth on said baseinclude splines extending helically along the surface of said base tomaintain said gear in mesh without rotation as said spout moves throughsaid opening.

4. A closure according to claim 3 in which said gear teeth and splinesare on the surface of the spout portion of said base.

5. A closure according to claim 2 in which said cam track and pin meanscauses said spout to snugly engage said cap when said cap overlies saidspout.

6. A closure according to claim 1 in which said sleeve has an insidediameter substantially larger than the outside diameter of said spout,said sleeve terminating in an inwardly projecting collar which definessaid opening, said cap being larger than said opening and underlyingsaid collar.

7. A closure according to claim 6 in which said collar has afrustoconical inside surface which cams said cap away from said openingand down the inside wall of said sleeve as it moves to its position toone side of said spout.

8. A closure according to claim 1 further comprising a resilientbifurcated bracket fixed to the inside wall of said sleeve, said gearhaving a shaft which is snapped into said bracket and held there by theresilience of said bracket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,934,016 11/1933 Strehs 2225071,974,348 9/1934 StI'ehs 222507 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

K. N. LEIMER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CLOSURE COMPRISING, A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL BASE INCLUDING ANELONGATED SPOUT, A SLEEVE MOUNTED ON SAID BASE FOR AXIAL AND ROTARYMOVEMENT WITH RESPECT TO SAID BASE, SAID SLEEVE HAVING AN OPENINGTHROUGH WHICH SAID SPOUT CAN PROJECT, A GEAR ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAIDSLEEVE AND MESHING WITH GEAR TEETH ON SAID BASE WHEREBY ROTATION OF SAIDSLEEVE WITH RESPECT TO SAID BASE CAUSE ROTATION OF SAID GEAR, AND A CAPCONNECTED BY A FLEXIBLE RESILIENT STRAP TO SAID GEAR, SAID CAP BEINGMOVABLE BETWEEN TWO POSITIONS UPON ROTATION OF SAID GEAR, ONE LYINGBETWEEN SAID SPOUT AND OPENING AND THE OTHER TO ONE SIDE OF SAID SPOUT.